Critical Hit Creations

Prop replicas, writing, and creative hobbies

Vi, Arcane

Terry Lyons
Arcane’s Vi, acrylics on board. Arcane is one of the best pieces of animation ever created, and you could turn every frame into a painting. I decided to go with a close-up of Vi, focussing on her eyes and expression.

Most of my painting experience comes from miniature painting, I’ve only ever painted a handful of traditional paintings, so this really pushed the limits of my skills. I’m sure I’d be more efficient and approach things differently if I had more 2D painting knowledge. I made extensive use of glazing throughout this piece to get very smooth transitions.

There’s always set-backs with a project, and this one came at the very end: after finishing everything else, I masked off some parts to airbrush the gradient in the background. All went fine until I removed the masking tape, which pulled up a section of the blue part of her jacket. This was not a happy way to end my intended final day of painting! So I set it aside and came back the next day to redo it and thankfully it all worked out.
Iris:
  • MC Dark Grey
  • GW Russ Grey
  • + GW Celestra Grey
Eyeball:
  • GW Dryad Bark 
  • + MC Deck Tan
  • MC Deck Tan + MC Dark Sea Grey
  • + White
Under Eye:
  • GW Dryad Bark
  • + MC Brown Rose
  • + GW Rakarth Flesh 
Lower Eyelid:
  • MC German C Black Brown
  • + GW Bloodreaver Flesh
  • + GW Rakarth Flesh 
Skin:
  • GW Dryad Bark
  • GW Dryad Bark + GW Rakarth Flesh (+ GW Gorthor Brown)
  • GW Rakarth Flesh
  • + GW Wraithbone
Skin Deep Shadows:
  • MC German C Black Brown
  • GW Dryad Bark
Lips:
  • MC German C Black Brown + GW Bloodreaver Flesh
  • GW Catachan Flesh + GW Bloodreaver Flesh 
  • GW Gorthor Brown + GW Bugman’s Glow
  • MC Ivory
Jacket:
  • Black + GW Khorne Red
  • GW Khorne Red + GW Bugman’s Glow
  • + MC Brown Rose
  • + MC Ivory
Jacket Blue:
  • Black + GW Kantor Blue + GW The Fang
  • + GW Kantor Blue + GW The Fang
  • GW The Fang
  • GW Russ Grey
Hair undercut:
  • Black + GW Khorne Red
  • + MC Purple
  • + White 
Hair:
  • Black + GW Khorne Red
  • + GW Khorne Red
  • + GW Bugman’s Glow
  • + MC Brown Rose
  • +MC Pink
  • + White
Background:
  • MC Neutral Grey
  • MC Dark Sea Grey
Paint Brands:
  • GW – Games Workshop
  • GSW - Green Stuff World
  • MA – Vallejo Model Air
  • MC - Vallejo Model Color
  • GC - Vallejo Game Color
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03:26

The Pilot

Terry Lyons
The Pilot, by Mindwork Studios. I was going for somewhere between Starlord and the Rocketeer with this paint job, with some classic hero vibes.

The coat starts from a really dark red and is highlighted through reddish-browns and ochres with some subtle texture to make it look like rusty red leather.

The brass of the jetpack is combined with copper details to make it look retro. I’m really pleased with the heat blueing of the brass by the exhausts, which transitions from rust brown through purples to bright blue.

I usually use reference when painting faces, and for this mini my reference was Christian Bale. I accentuated the high cheekbones, as well as the musculature on his forearms. I added glazes of red to his knuckles and nail beds to add more realism to the hands.

The Game Boy is an accurate match to the original, including purple A and B buttons, and he is of course playing Pokémon Red!

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Skin:
  • GW Catachan Flesh
  • GW Catachan Flesh + GW Cadian Fleshtone
  • GW Cadian Fleshtone + MC Light Flesh
  • ++ MC Light Flesh
Hair/Leather:
  • GW Rhinox Hide 
  • GW Mournfang Brown
  • + MC Ochre Brown
Scarf:
  • (GW Thondia Brown)
  • GW Steel Legion Drab
  • GW Tallarn Sand
  • + MC Ivory
Jacket:
  • Black + GC Scarlet Red
  • GC Scarlet Red
  • GW Word Bearers Red
  • GW Doombull Brown
  • + GW XV-88
Jacket Lining:
  • MC Dark Grey
  • MC Neutral Grey
  • MC Dark Sea Grey
Metal:
  • Black
  • MC Dark Grey
  • MC Neutral Grey
  • + White
  • White
Orange Screen:
  • GW Wild Rider Red
  • GW Trollslayer Orange
  • GW Fire Dragon Bright
Gameboy:
  • MC Neutral Grey
  • MC Dark Sea Grey
Gameboy Screen:
  • GW Caliban Green + MC US Olive Drab
  • + GW Elysian Green
  • + MC Sunny skin tone
Gameboy Game:
  • GW Evil Sunz Scarlet
  • GW Wild Rider Red
  • + MC Sunny Skin Tone
Brass:
  • GW Rhinox Hide
  • GW Thondia Brown
  • GW Steel Legion Drab
  • GW Tallarn Sand
  • +MC Ivory
Copper:
  • GW Rhinox Hide
  • GW Mournfang Brown
  • + MC Brown Rose
  • + MC Ivory
Heat bluing:
  • GW Mournfang Brown
  • GC Royal Purple + GC Hexed Lichen
  • GW Kantor Blue
  • MC Deep Sky Blue
Paint Brands:
  • GW – Games Workshop
  • GSW - Green Stuff World
  • MA – Vallejo Model Air
  • MC - Vallejo Model Color
  • GC - Vallejo Game Color
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02:52 ,

Emily Feilya

Terry Lyons
Emily Feilya, another fabulous mini from Abyssoul. This piece came with 2 excellent options for the head, so I had to paint both and make a plinth to display the second one.

I found this a challenging piece to paint, I think mostly because I had some painting burnout after my last big project, and also because I didn’t have a clear idea of the colour scheme going into it. I knew I wanted black as the main colour, but I’ve always had problems making black interesting.

I first settled on using a texture pattern on the shawl to add some visual interest, and then worked on painting areas with different variations of black to differentiate them. From the feet up: the boots are highlighted with cool blue-greys; the chaps are highlighted with browns; the cuirass uses warm ochres; the puff sleeves use bone cream; the gloves, shawl and hat are highlighted with greys and white.
The challenge with the shawl is that the textile pattern uses the same greys that I was also using to highlight the black folds of the shawl, so I always had to keep the highlights 2 shades darker than the adjoining pattern section. This means that at the highest point, the pattern is highlighted to pure white while the black background is highlighted to the grey mid-tone of the pattern.
I’m really pleased with the glass and liquid effect I painted for the poison vials and syringe. I added a drip of poison coming out of the syringe using tinted UV resin. The one thing missing from the original sculpt was a bolt loaded into the crossbow, so I sculpted my own, and strung the bow with thread.
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Chaps:
  • Black
  • MC German C. Black Brown
  • + GW Steel Legion Drab
Cuirass:
  • Black
  • + MC Ochre Brown
  • + GW Karak Stone
Boots:
  • Black
  • GW The Fang
  • + GW Russ Grey
Gloves/Shawl:
  • Black
  • MC Dark Grey
  • MC Neutral Grey
  • [MC Deck Tan]
  • [White]
Sleeves Black:
  • Black
  • +GW Rakarth Flesh
Gold:
  • GW Rhinox Hide
  • GW Thondia Brown
  • GW Steel Legion Drab
  • GW Tallarn Sand
  • +MC Ivory
Steel:
  • Black
  • MC Neutral Grey
  • MC Deck Tan
Leather:
  • Black
  • GW Rhinox Hide
  • GW Mournfang Brown
Crossbow:
  • GW Rhinox Hide
  • GW Doombull Brown
  • + MC Ochre Brown
Arrow shafts:
  • MC Chocolate Brown 
  • GW Steel Legion Drab
  • + GW Karak Stone
Arrow Feathers:
  • GW Rakarth Flesh
  • GW Screaming Skull
Base:
  • MC German C Black Brown
  • GW Steel Legion Drab
  • DW Karak Stone
  • MC Ivory
Green Poison:
  • GW Caliban Green
  • GW Warpstone Glow
  • GW Moot Green
Skin:
  • MC German C Black Brown
  • GW Gorthor Brown
  • + GW Cadian Fleshtone + MC Light Flesh
  • GW Cadian Fleshtone +MC Light Flesh
  • MC Light Flesh
Lips:
  • GW Gorthor Brown
  • + MC Salmon Rose
Mask Leather:
  • MC German C Black Brown
  • + GW Cadian Fleshtone 
  • + MC Light Flesh
Paint Brands:
  • GW – Games Workshop
  • GSW - Green Stuff World
  • MA – Vallejo Model Air
  • MC - Vallejo Model Color
  • GC - Vallejo Game Color
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12:10 ,

Galaxy At War

Terry Lyons
I hate leaving projects unfinished. I started this piece many years ago, when I was playing 40k with a group. It got shelved before I finished a single mini, although I did paint the Dark Eldar as a stand alone piece years later.

On a trip home to visit my parents, I found the remaining minis and decided it was finally time to resurrect this project. Some of them I would have considered close to finished when I put them away, but with all I’ve learned in the intervening years, it was best to restart them from scratch. Only the Dark Eldar remains untouched.

The Eldar and Space Wolf are mostly metal parts, so I removed the plastic pieces and soaked them in acetone to strip the paint before reassembling. For the others, I washed the dust off and applied new undercoats. The overall colour schemes mostly stay close to my original intentions, with some exceptions.

I’m delighted that I was able to complete this diorama staying true to my original vision from all those years ago, with each character standing on his own battlefield, each one blending with the next in an epic fight across the galaxy.

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Dark Eldar Corsair Lord

The original post for this mini can be found here. I've included some new photos of the figure in place as part of the diorama.

This Dark Eldar has waited a long time to be united in battle with his foes across the galaxy. I originally painted him after a long hiatus from the hobby, and although I’d probably approach him differently if I were painting him today, he’s still of high enough quality that I decided not to repaint when including him in the diorama.

The base uses the same design as the stand-alone base I originally built for him, with stacked plates patterned after his armour. There was empty space that needed some visual interest, so I stuck together some Eldar bitz to make the lamp/energy source thing, using an airbrush to get the purple to pink gradient glow. I’m really happy with how eerie and alien it looks, contrasting with the green edge-highlighted floor plates.

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Base:
  • GW Caliban Green
  • GW Kabalite Green
  • MC Park Green Flat
  • + MC Sunny Skin Tone
  • + White
“Lamp”:
  • MC Violet
  • MC Sunset Red
  • MC Pink
  • White

Ork Nob

The goal with the Ork was to make him as grimy and beat up looking as possible. I went with quite a vibrant green for his skin, with a lot of contrast between the base and highlight, and added lots of scratches and surface imperfections.

The armour is blended from a rusty brown up to an ochre yellow, with lots of battle damage and weathering. I built up layers with plenty of texture, particularly for the leather and metal, to give everything that aged and damaged look.

The Ork was the first mini I painted when resurrecting this project. And given its long history I wasn’t quite sure if and how it work out. But after finishing the axe I sat back with a grin thinking, “ya, I’ve probably got this”.

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Skin:
  • GW Death Korps Drab
  • GW Loren Forest
  • GW Elysian Green
  • GW Ogryn Camo
Eyes:
  • MC Dark Vermillion
  • MC Orange Fluorescent 
  • MC Sunny Skin Tone
Teeth/nails:
  • GW Rhinox Hide
  • GW Mournfang Brown
  • MC Ochre Brown
  • GW Flayed One Flesh
Armour:
  • MC Ochre Brown
  • GW Mournfang Brown shade
  • MC Ochre Brown + MC Ivory for the edge of the paint chips
  • GW Mournfang Brown and The Metal colours for the exposed metal
Vest/wraps:
  • GW Baneblade Brown
  • GW Rakarth Flesh
  • MC Deck Tan
Pants:
  • MC German C. Black Brown
  • GW Catachan Flesh
  • GW Gorthor Brown
Boots/leather:
  • GW Rhinox Hide 
  • GW Mournfang Brown
  • MC Gold Brown
  • MC Ivory
Bullet Shells:
  • GW Thondia Brown
  • MC English Uniform
  • MC Ivory
  • (MC Sunny Skin Tone glaze to tint the Ivory)
Copper:
  • GW Rhinox Hide
  • GW Mournfang Brown
  • + MC Brown Rose
  • + MC Ivory
Metal:
  • Black
  • + MC German C. Beige WWII 
  • +MC Deck Tan
Blue Glow:
  • GW Kantor Blue
  • GW Baharroth Blue
  • White
Base:
  • MC Chocolate Brown
  • MC Flat Earth
  • GW Balor Brown
  • (MC German C Beige WWII)

Khorne Berzerker

I went with a very clean colour scheme for this mini. The red was glazed from a dark scarlet to a bright orange-red to create smooth transitions that follow the contours of the Space Marine armour.

The accents and other details are a non-metallic antique gold that I’m really happy with, especially on the Chaos icon planted in the ground behind him. I used glowing neon green as a contrasting spot colour in a few places, on the plasma gun and ammo.

The Khorne Berzerker’s colour scheme has some interactions with his neighbours, since the plasma coils throw green light onto the Ork’s gun, and the Eldar’s power sword is casting light onto the Berzerker’s flaming sword.

The lava flow on the base and the sword follow the same colour scheme, although the fire on the sword is highlighted all the way to white at its core to show just how hot it is. The lava has darker spots on its surface where it is cooling, and the surrounding rocks are glowing with the heat and light radiating from the lava.

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Armour:
  • Black + GC Scarlet Red
  • GC Scarlet Red
  • MC Scarlet
  • + MC Sunny Skin Tone
Gold:
  • GW Rhinox Hide
  • GW Thondia Brown
  • GW Steel Legion Drab
  • GW Tallarn Sand
  • +MC Ivory
Fire:
  • Black
  • GC Scarlet Red
  • MC Scarlet 
  • GW Fire Dragon Bright
  • GW Flash Gitz Yellow
  • White ink
Plasma:
  • Base coat: white ink
  • GW Caliban Green
  • GW Warpstone Glow
  • GW Moot Green
  • GW Flash Gitz Yellow
Lava:
  • Black
  • GC Scarlet Red
  • GW Fire Dragon Bright + MC Orange Fluorescent
  • GSW Intensity Ink Hydromiel Yellow airbrushed over white / GW Flash Gitz Yellow 

Eldar Autarch

This mini uses an advanced version of the colour scheme I used when I collected Eldar. The armour is blended from rusty brown through desert yellow to cream, with the helmet using khaki and stone colours. The non-metallic gold is a much more yellow gold than what I used on the minis either side, since that antique gold uses the same desert yellow for its primary tone as the Eldar’s armour.

I’m really happy with the battle standard, which depicts some of my Eldar lore: a craftworld orbiting a desert planet, Eldar of both sand and sky. The cloak then transitions down through blue tones from the stars to the sand.

The power sword, shimmershield and runes in the sand all glow with turquoise light, while a variety of shiny gems adorn his weapons and armour (blue for spirit stones, red on active weapons, green for the inactive grenades on his belt).

The orange tabard is a nod to Lady Yvraine whom I previously painted in a similar scheme. Maybe this autarch is a follower of hers.

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Armour
  • GW Rhinox Hide
  • GW Mournfang Brown
  • GW Tallarn Sand
  • GW Flayed One Flesh
Helmet
  • GW Dryad Bark
  • MC German C. Beige WWII
  • Mc Deck Tan
Gold
  • MC Chocolate Brown
  • MC Ochre Brown
  • MC Dark Flesh
  • + MC Ivory
Cloak
  • Black
  • GW Kantor Blue
  • MC Royal Blue
  • GW Lothern Blue
Shuriken Catapult
  • MC Chocolate Brown
  • GW Steep Legion Drab
  • + MC Buff
Blade
  • GW Sotek Green
  • MC Blue Green
  • + White
Sash
  • GW Mournfang Brown + GW Trollslayer Orange
  • GW Trollslayer Orange
  • + GW Flayed One Flesh
  • + White
Red Gems
  • GC Scarlet Red
  • MC Vermillion 
  • + White
Leather
  • GW Rhinox Hide
  • GW Gorthor Brown
  • + MC Ivory
Base
  • GW Dryad Bark
  • GW Tallarn Sand
  • MC Buff
  • GW Flayed One Flesh

Space Wolf

Since this is the second mini in power armour in the diorama, I wanted to do something very different to the smooth blends of the Khorne Berzerker. I built up textured highlights of blue-grey with scratches and imperfections to make the armour look really crunchy. The yellow shoulder pad uses the same technique, highlighting from rusty brown through yellow to cream.

For the cloak I referenced timber wolf pelts, transitioning from grey to browns and creams. The non-metallic gold is the same colour scheme as I used on the Khorne Berserker, and I’m particularly pleased with how it worked out on the backpack wolf heads.

The axe head was painted with lots of glazing to get a really smooth transition from blue to white. The same colours were used to give him glowing eyes and rune, and a gem on his backpack.

For the ice on the base, I started by airbrushing a gradient from black through dark blue to icy blue. On top of this I layered Green Stuff World's UV Resin, and once cured painted layers of their Liquid Frost on top. The rest of the base was given a dusting of snow flock, which I also glued in places on the Space Wolf’s cloak to tie him into the scene.

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Armour
  • MC Dark Grey + GW Kantor Blue
  • GW The Fang
  • GW Russ Grey
  • + White
Gold
  • Same as Khorne Berserker
Skin
  • GW Dryad Bark
  • GW Baneblade Brown
  • + GW Cadian Fleshtone
  • + MC Ivory
Yellow
  • GW Mournfang Brown
  • MC Ochre Brown
  • + MC Ivory
Blade
  • GW Kantor Blue
  • GW Baharroth Blue
  • + White
Fur
  • MC Dark Grey
  • MC Dark Sea Grey
  • + White
  • MC Flat Earth
  • GW Baneblade Brown
  • MC German C. Beige WWII
  • GW Karak Stone
Bone
  • MC German C. Black Brown
  • MC German C. Beige WWII
  • MC Deck Tan
Red
  • GW Word Bearers Red
  • MC Dark Vermillion
  • GW Wild Rider Red
Metal
  • MC Dark Grey
  • MC Dark Sea Grey
  • White
Hair
  • MC Neutral Grey
  • MC Deck Tan
Wood
  • GW Rhinox Hide
  • MC Flat Earth
  • + MC Ivory
Ice:
  • Black
  • MA Steel Blue
  • + MC Blue Green
  • GW Lothern Blue
  • + White

Tyranid Genestealer

Given the pose and overall look of this mini, I wanted him to look as creepy as possible. I drew inspiration from various horror monsters, such as the necromorph from Dead Space, and ultimately used a human anatomical model as reference. With all the bone protrusions and exoskeleton, my plan was to make this tyranid look like he’s inside-out. I painted musculature in reds and pinks, with each band of muscle anchored in cream-white sinew. The exposed bone uses a similar colour scheme, with stippled texture, particularly on the skull, and scratches and damage on the claws. The eyes are a glowing orange.

For the base, I wanted him to look like he was leaping out of the long grass, but didn’t want to obstruct views of the model, so I raised him up on a mound and built up the taller grass on the lower level. I added a patch of neon pink foliage and a area of neon pink grass leading out from it, suggesting some kind of infection that was spreading, drawing inspiration from the infected landscape of the movie Annihilation.

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Skin:
  • MC Black Red
  • GW Tuskgor Fur
  • + GW Cadian Fleshtone
  • + MC Salmon Rose
  • + MC Ivory
Skin “tendons”:
  • MC Ger. C. Beige WWII 
  • MC Deck Tan
Bone:
  • MC Ger. C. Beige WWII 
  • MC Deck Tan
  • White
Base
  • MC German C Black Brown
  • GW Steel Legion Drab
  • GW Baneblade Brown
  • GW Rakarth Flesh
Paint Brands:
  • GW – Games Workshop
  • GSW - Green Stuff World
  • MA – Vallejo Model Air
  • MC - Vallejo Model Color
  • GC - Vallejo Game Color
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11:28 , ,
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